The design of collaborative projects: language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach
| dc.contributor.advisor | Strümpfer, Johan | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Day, Julian | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-11-01T07:48:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-11-01T07:48:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1999 | en_ZA |
| dc.date.updated | 2017-03-08T12:14:45Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis uses a systems approach to develop a model for Collaborative Project Design (CPD). Failure of the software process is the area of concern. The focus of the argument is, however, on the organizational environment of the software process. A central argument is that the analytic tools of standard software development methodologies are inappropriate for systems synthesis. They provide little assistance in coping with the loose complexity that is inherent in the organizational environment in which the software process is embedded. These analytic tools and the engineering language and metaphor which dominate the software process undermine collaboration and disempower business users. CPD was developed to enable viable collaboration that is necessary for the software process to succeed. The purpose of CPD is to provide a systemic model of causal influences and social process in order to guide a project designer when intervening in projects which call for acts of shared creation and/or discovery. CPD was developed through a combination of action research (in projects involving software development and organisational transformation) and theoretical readings focused on the philosophy of meaning, systems thinking, social process and the software process. CPD emphasises that a collaborative project requires careful design of its underlying languages, metaphors and conversations. It identifies three distinct types of conversation, namely communication, dialogue and collaboration. The thesis describes how these conversation types are utilised in transforming a project's network of commitments from loose complexity via shared meaning to cohesive simplicity. Associated with each conversation type is a set of project influences which are developed into a causal influence model in order to depict a collaborative project as a dynamic system of mutually interdependent influences. This causal influence model was used to synthesise the learning from action research and the theoretical readings. An appreciative systems framework was then derived in order to justify a collaborative project as a self-regulating social system and was overlaid onto the causal influence model in order to derive CPD in its final form. CPD proved beneficial when tested in practical projects as a framework to organise a project designer's mind when designing project interventions. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Day, J. (1999). <i>The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25974 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Day, Julian. <i>"The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25974 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Day, J. 1999. The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach. University of Cape Town. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Day, Julian AB - This thesis uses a systems approach to develop a model for Collaborative Project Design (CPD). Failure of the software process is the area of concern. The focus of the argument is, however, on the organizational environment of the software process. A central argument is that the analytic tools of standard software development methodologies are inappropriate for systems synthesis. They provide little assistance in coping with the loose complexity that is inherent in the organizational environment in which the software process is embedded. These analytic tools and the engineering language and metaphor which dominate the software process undermine collaboration and disempower business users. CPD was developed to enable viable collaboration that is necessary for the software process to succeed. The purpose of CPD is to provide a systemic model of causal influences and social process in order to guide a project designer when intervening in projects which call for acts of shared creation and/or discovery. CPD was developed through a combination of action research (in projects involving software development and organisational transformation) and theoretical readings focused on the philosophy of meaning, systems thinking, social process and the software process. CPD emphasises that a collaborative project requires careful design of its underlying languages, metaphors and conversations. It identifies three distinct types of conversation, namely communication, dialogue and collaboration. The thesis describes how these conversation types are utilised in transforming a project's network of commitments from loose complexity via shared meaning to cohesive simplicity. Associated with each conversation type is a set of project influences which are developed into a causal influence model in order to depict a collaborative project as a dynamic system of mutually interdependent influences. This causal influence model was used to synthesise the learning from action research and the theoretical readings. An appreciative systems framework was then derived in order to justify a collaborative project as a self-regulating social system and was overlaid onto the causal influence model in order to derive CPD in its final form. CPD proved beneficial when tested in practical projects as a framework to organise a project designer's mind when designing project interventions. DA - 1999 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1999 T1 - The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach TI - The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25974 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25974 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Day J. The design of collaborative projects : Language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1999 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25974 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Mechanical Engineering | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.subject.other | Engineering Management | en_ZA |
| dc.title | The design of collaborative projects: language, metaphor, conversation and the systems approach | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Doctoral Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Doctoral | |
| dc.type.qualificationname | PhD | en_ZA |
| uct.type.filetype | ||
| uct.type.filetype | Text | |
| uct.type.filetype | Image | |
| uct.type.publication | Research | en_ZA |
| uct.type.resource | Thesis | en_ZA |